Bed Sheets On Poppy Hill
by merristuck
Summary: Children make fortresses out of bed sheets because, as everyone knows, they are the only things in which monsters cannot touch you and that adulthood cannot topple. Humanstuck. Dedicated to littlemisfit13.
1. Chapter 1

During the late afternoons of summer, when the air was particularly heavy and sweet, and the sky turned blue-grey long before muddled orange, their mothers would gather together in one of their houses for dinner or coffee. Sometimes, they did both, and if it was too hot they would all crowd into the kitchen for sandwiches and ice tea because cold food seemed to balance out body heat and the warmth of voices going all at once. Terezi didn't mind being brought along to these meetings because it meant that she could see her friends, which was always a treat because playing alone at home quickly got boring, more often than not, and she had no brothers or sisters to remedy that. It also meant that her mother would get dressed up and put on perfume that Terezi liked (sometimes, when they were leaving one of the houses, she'd feign sleep just so that her mother would carry her out to the car, and she'd be able to smell that perfume on her mixed in with an unavoidable summer sweat).

This evening, their hostess was Mrs. Nitram, a thick little woman with a voice that didn't sound like the other mothers', but that Terezi liked best. It was loud and warm and chatty, and not always in words that even her own mother understood, which was a wonder because her mother knew so many words. She liked her, though, and even enjoyed the few minutes that her mother kept her there by the hand, guiding her through proper greetings until her antsy six-year-old legs were allowed to carry her to a familiar playroom just beyond the Nitram's kitchen. The doorway greeted her with a familiar openness, and she barely got over the threshold before she was tittering with a mad delight that came with the promise of playing with her friends. Bright eyes scanned the cluttered room, a collection of blue and red and yellow along the perimeter that left a healthy enough space to play at the center, but still required some climbing, to find the Nitram's son, Tavros, occupied with an impressive new action figure that she had never seen before. Sometimes, Terezi didn't always like Tavros too much because he wouldn't always play with her, and when he spoke in those words she didn't understand it bothered her a lot more than when his mother did; he wasn't always allowed outside with the rest of the children either because he was sick a lot, but Terezi only understood this so far as it made him shy and boring and not fun at all. Regardless, this didn't stop her from rushing over to see her friend's new possession without as much as a passing acknowledgement to the other children that may have already been in the room.

"'S not fair! You have to share!" soon came her whine when Tavros wouldn't let her touch it, pulling it away with the one-sided compromise that she could see it as long as he was holding it. She huffed and, deciding that he was especially no fun, went promptly in search of something better that would make him jealous. What she found was Karkat, coloring in a corner. Karkat was notorious for having the best box of crayons ever - one hundred and sixty four different colors all kept neatly sharpened and in their proper spots - and Terezi was certain that this alone would be enough to rile up Tavros when he saw.

"Whatcha colorin'?" she asked him, rocking up and down on her toes as she tried to peak, but he brought a chubby little arm across the picture at her presence, telling her it wasn't done yet and that she couldn't see until it was. Grabbing a new crayon, but not before carefully replacing the one he was already using, he hurried to finish coloring the picture before proudly holding up the whole coloring book for Terezi to see. She was rather impressed by his ability to color so neatly in the lines, and when he asked if she wanted to color with him her only answer was to shove herself into the corner with him, clumsy hands digging unceremoniously through his box of crayons for her favorite colors (a pretty candy red and a bright teal that reminded her of a blouse her mother liked to wear when she went out). Jamming the teal one into his hand and keeping the red for herself, she was quick to grab the coloring book and flip to a new picture with liberty. Eventually deciding on one with a whole bunch of flowers that would require nearly every color in the box, the thought of which made her visibly giddy, she pointed to it and smiled excitedly at him. "Do this one with me!"

Pushing her hand out of the way of the picture to see which one she had picked, he figured that this one would be pretty fun to color in, so he agreed. Though, he didn't quite like teal, so he swapped it out for a yellow one when she wasn't looking. He sometimes stole glances at her when she wasn't looking, too, and decided that she was pretty, even if she didn't color in the lines. Terezi wore an impish grin the entire time, which seemed to suggest that she colored so poorly on purpose, and she wore down the red crayon to a nub in her fist until the petals were red and the leaves were red and her cheeks were red with delighted concentration. When it looked like they were just about done – Karkat's flowers were neatly and completely filled in, and no two were alike, unlike Terezi's - she giggled with a new childish glee and spoke of having her mommy hang it up on the fridge when they got home, but not before eagerly tearing it in half so that Karkat's mommy had something to hang up, too. It was only fair.

Karkat happily took his half of the picture and set to reorganizing his crayons in time for a disturbed whine from Tavros, demanding his toy back, to signal Vriska's arrival, which immediately had Terezi up and out of the corner to join her favorite playmate. Karkat forgotten, she eagerly occupied herself elsewhere as the other children all arrived, one after the other; some joined a rather exciting game of playing pirates, while others watched or, like Equius and Sollux, were enlisted to build a rather impressive pirate ship with big, colorful blocks around child-sized chairs without ever being designated a further role. Tavros, with a little prodding, even got his mommy to get them a big white bed sheet, which she hung over the empty containers that held the blocks before returning to the kitchen, for a sail. For Terezi, this detail made it all so real, the finishing touch; she didn't have to imagine that the sheet was a billowing sail over the ocean because for her, it actually was.

Vriska was the self-appointed captain and Terezi was her first mate, and Tavros had to walk the plank for not sharing, on Terezi's orders (Vriska said it was alright if her first mate gave orders sometimes). However, with Tavros so soon overboard, Terezi came to realize that a pirate ship was pretty boring without any captives. "Karkat!" she squealed in her excited, high-pitched voice, "Karkat, come be the bad guy!" The one she's supposed to throw overboard for his injustices.

"But I don' know howta be the bad guy!" he protested, but it fell on deaf ears.

"It's easy!" she stressed, grinning as she pulled him away from the corner by the hand (he fisted the two halves of their picture in the other, unwilling to leave them behind) to sit him down in their perfect pirate ship with a push to his tiny shoulders. "You jus' sit here and wait til I tell ya to walk the plank! Got it?" She didn't wait for him to respond before running off to rejoin Vriska in her yelling about crow's nests and landlubbers and treasure, leaving Karkat to pout as Sollux laughed at the fate of his friend.

For awhile, Tavros' action figure was the desired treasure, but Terezi gave it back to him just to get him to stop crying; the new treasure was half a box of Jumbo Legos that Equius willingly relinquished, as long as they promised to clean up after. Vriska said that pirates don't clean up after nobody, but Terezi agreed because it was a fair trade, and she said that pirates need to know how to make good deals because of the pirate code. Eventually, she returned to Karkat and prodded him in the side with one of her tiny fingers, saying, "Up, up! Time to walk the plank!" and accusing him of trying to steal their treasure. The price he had to pay was being eaten by the big, scary sharks - played by Eridan, who sat on the other side of their ship, growling and making funny faces.

Karkat was reluctantly pulled from his chair with the aid of Vriska, who decided to show an interest in the more questionably morbid goings-on of her ship that she had, up until this point, let Terezi handle alone. He offered them an angry frown as they shoved him toward their makeshift plank, though Eridan's silly faces soon forced a giggle from him, and he decided that maybe this could be fun if it gave it a chance.

"You haven't heard the last a me, Cap'in!" he yelled in his most boisterous child's voice before dramatically throwing himself overboard onto the floor, where Eridan met him with tickling fingers. Tickling was a lot more fun than biting, they all agreed, and watching Karkat shriek with laughter caused the whole room of children to giggle and shout as they joined in, each taking a turn to jump off the plank; all of a sudden, being a bad guy really was as easy as Terezi had said it was, and the most fun they'd ever had, ever.

Not too long after Terezi began squealing with delight (he was perfect at these games!) in harmony with her friends, her head had turned with hearing her mother call her name. It was late, she heard, and time to go home; the other mothers began crowding around the doorway, too, with the effort to gather their children with varying levels of resistance and complacence. Looking back over at Karkat, she shrieked out a gleeful "Walk the plank!" before finally joining everyone in jumping overboard, but with the sole purpose of giving her impressive playmate a hug before scampering off. As her mother took her hand she called out a cheery "Bye, Karkat!" over her shoulder as she tried her best to wave a pudgy hand at him, a parting gesture that he returned with his own grinning "Bye, Tezi!" before remembering that he still had her half of the picture. He went after her on little feet to cram her half into her still-waving hand, making her promise to have her mommy hang it up on the fridge like she said before occupying himself with showing his own mother his half of the picture they colored earlier.

Terezi would never tell Vriska, but Karkat was her new favorite playmate.


	2. Chapter 2

By the time they were eight years old, a widespread Cootie epidemic had seized the town's youth. No one was safe and those suspected of contamination were briefly quarantined and treated with a healthy dosage of teasing, upon which they would be considered safe. Playing would resume, and life would go on. However, there came a time when playing pirates, though it was a safe and familiar pastime, grew tedious and boring to some. There was no longer any allure in billowing bed sheet sails and walking colorful planks. These mutinous thoughts threatened the carefully constructed barrier between boys and girls, but the argument stood that they couldn't have a wedding without a groom.

Though less frequently, their mothers continued to meet during summer's late afternoons. A bay window allowed them to watch their children from the Vantas' kitchen, so on that particular evening they permitted an endearing game to continue in the backyard just below. It was a game they knew well, something that made them chatter with delightedly amused laughter; the sound of memories from their own girlhood, when young backyard weddings held all of the same childlike romance and fun that they saw in their daughters then. It was mostly Feferi's doing, what with her having the initial idea and the knowledge regarding such activities that the others didn't, but it was (surprisingly, though maybe not too much so) Vriska who organized the participants when she realized the scandal that would surely come with it. Besides, they couldn't quite play pirates without their captain, and Vriska was always, without exception, the captain. So, without any other options, and varying levels of interest, they all agreed to partake.

Roles were dealt with a rather riotous response. No boy wanted to be the groom, and no girl desired to be his blushing bride – blush they did, indeed - but each one volunteered another to take their spot. Terezi offered to be the groom after a bit of squabbling, and though all the boys grinned and agreed due to it being both hilarious and safe, each other girl maintained their refusal to wed their female companion. This led to the suggestion that if a girl was to be the groom, then it was only fair that a boy was to be the bride, an idea that was duly challenged, but that finally yielded a participant. Whether Karkat was willing or it was Sollux's prodding him in the ribs until he stepped forward, the group didn't care too much. What mattered was the eventual settlement that Terezi would be the bride and Karkat would be the groom (there was absolutely no way he would wear anything that resembled a dress, ever), just for the sake of the game and all of the propriety that came with playing wedding.

Karkat's backyard really was an impressive sight, and was the perfect place to stage the perfect wedding. The children stationed their altar, an overturned crate that held plant pots, neatly stacked to the side for the time being, at the bottom of the smooth hill that dipped away from the Vantas' house; a hill that boasted red blooms all along its face – poppies, reds and oranges that mimicked the falling sunset with big, black eyes, and that came up easy in still-small fists as the girls made use of their pretty resource.

They pulled them up and set to work, threading them together into a wreath that they placed carefully atop the mass of Terezi's wild red hair before they could fuss over anything else. Her arms stuck out awkwardly, Kanaya fitting a crisp white bed sheet that they plucked from Mrs. Vantas' clothesline (they figured she wouldn't mind, as long as they were careful not to get it to dirty and put it back when they were done) around her for a dress. It was much too long, and she complained of it dragging, but Feferi explained that that's what wedding dresses were supposed to do. Knowing no better, Terezi accepted the information, but couldn't seem to hold still as Kanaya tugged and folded and tucked around her. The boys shared her same restlessness, and perhaps her same lack of eagerness (she kept this budding excitement carefully hidden in the folds of her dress, so they were none the wiser). Sensing their idle anxieties, Vriska had passed on her job of making a bouquet to the boys, and instead took up the occupation of coaching their new task. It was mostly a disaster, with clumsy fingers breaking stems in the wrong places and tearing off clumps of petals as they fought to have a hand in the arrangement that they swore they had no interest in. When Eridan handed Terezi their finished project, it mostly fell apart, sad and abused, and though Nepeta had to craft together a new one they were appreciative of the attempt.

By the time Terezi started down the hill towards Karkat, the sun had nearly disappeared below the horizon, leaving only fireflies to light up the cool purple-grey path that she had to take to her awaiting husband. Aradia descended first on Feferi's instruction, holding up the hem of her shirt to form a pouch from which she tossed poppy petals to the left and right of her. Nepeta, Kanaya, Vriska, and Feferi followed in a generally organized line, each partnered with a boy that looked genuinely uninterested (except for Eridan, who found his own involvement more than mildly interesting as time went on, especially since he got to walk next to Feferi in the procession). After a bit of a backup at the bottom, the group managed to split, albeit unevenly, and stand on either side of their crate-alter onto which Feferi carefully stepped; where Karkat was fidgeting with a growing agitation, scowling against a blush hidden by the late dusk, as each of his peers snickered and poked at him in passing.

It was the sight of Terezi stumbling on her own train, a white-knuckle grip on a bouquet of poppies as she tried to right her bare footing and push her flowered hair from her face at the same time, that convinced him that she was the prettiest girl he had ever seen (she felt quite pretty, too), and that he wanted to be with her forever and ever.

With a huff of breath, Terezi, mildly flustered from the frustrating walk in her makeshift dress, finally took her place next to Karkat. He decided to force his attention on Feferi as she recited, rather poorly, the script that apparently went along with this sort of thing, while Terezi concerned herself with trying to keep the bed sheet up around herself. Her shifting and fixing drew his attention once or twice, but she didn't seem to notice, which allowed him to make some decent observations: like how she smelled sweet, and that she had more freckles than he'd noticed before, and he didn't ever pay attention to what color her eyes were; it was a little too dark to tell exactly what color they were, but when a firefly lighted by her cheek he could at least tell that they were light (if they weren't naturally that fluorescent yellow). At one point during his personal musings, he caught her leaning away to trade whispers and titters with Vriska, who, before Feferi could finish, screeched out a scandalized, "Kiss!"

A burst of chatter, simultaneously thrilled and disgusted, erupted from the wedding party at the expected demand; they all knew it was an inevitable end to such a game, but now that it was here, some dreaded it, and most craned their necks to get a better look at what was to be the spectacle of the century. Terezi herself wrinkled a freckled nose against the prospect, and looked to a scowling Karkat with a child's distaste. Both adamantly denied the exchange (though, and they would never admit it, maybe they did want to kiss one another just a teeny, tiny bit), trying to reason with their friends an alternate way to seal their marriage – a high-five, a handshake, or even a hug would suffice, wouldn't it? - but when even Gamzee and Equius began to push the taboo, the first sign of their interest since the game had begun, they knew they couldn't win.

With her hands fisted in her dress, holding it up at her thighs so that the denim of her overall shorts showed underneath, Terezi was the one to catch Karkat by surprise, bent at the middle to press her pursed lips to his pouting mouth in an attempt to prove that she was neither a baby nor a chicken. This brave action was enough to move both the encircling mass of their peers, as well as the mothers inside, who giggled and sighed as if it were their own game. Eyes still squeezed shut against pointed fingers and sing-song teases, Terezi eventually found herself on the ground, Karkat having pushed her right over for such an offensive move. Though, she didn't cry or complain, only grinned and threw her bouquet from where she lay in the grass with such precision and force that he sported an impressive red mark between the eyes when they went inside upon their mother's calls.

Karkat's mother sent Terezi home that evening with congratulations on her marriage, and told her that their home was always open to their daughter-in-law.


End file.
